Avantgarde's are Great but Bass Integration?


I just back yesterday from an extensive audition of the Avantgarde Uno and Duo horn speakers. In a word, jaw dropping incredible speakers but .......I never felt really comfortable that the bass integration was going to get quite where it needs to be. Too much bass, too little, slight to noticeable bass to mids transition etc. We changed the settings on the subwoofer, moved the massive Duo's around, which actually was not hard given how the speaker is designed, changing setting positions etc. This speaker more than any other I have heard conveys a "you are there", "organic", and "pure oceans of spatial dimension" qualities in the all important, for my musical tastes, midrange and up. These speakers are so good that once we got things very close to being there with the bass I was convinced that anybody considering speakers, no matter, how little or how much you spend really need to hear how a speaker can take you to another world given a good recording.

What has been others experience with this phenomenial speaker especially in the area of bass quality and integration with the rest of the system?
nanderson

Showing 1 response by cawson4de0

As a matter of interest, did you prefer the Duos over the Unos? I've heard convincing reports that the Uno (with 10" drivers in sub) as a more satisfactory design. I happen to have Unos as they were in my budget range and so well considered by Stereophile and others. I had not heard a Duo until recently abd I must say, I wasn't of the opinion they are any better, let alone £XXX better!

On the question of base coherence, I would agree it is not perfect, but anorther idea worth trying if you haven't yet done so, is to change the polarity of the bass unit. This is mentioned in the handbook (I think), but often overlooked.

I have found satisfactory settings for my subs and I'm very happy with the system generally. However I think that the bass performance varies a bit more rom one CD to another compared with conventional speakers. I find that on a few CDs the bass booms slightly more than I'd expect, but on most it's fine. Those few slightly booming CDs would possibly be less so on other speakers.

Overall, though I think they're fantastic speakers - I'm still looking for an ideal amplifier!